Hi-wow, did an entire month just go by with no posts from me!?! Sheesh!
WT%--how does that happen? I mean, OK, I know I have ADD, (and so do you because I remind you constantly), and I know that part of that is not being completely connected to the 'real' world, and the whole 'time' thing. And, I know, I can be in my own daydreamy world. But, seriously? Over one month?!!
I tell Dave and Dr. G (my ADD person) that I have two speeds: ON and OFF.
ON is really good, because I zoom around and do a million things and feel CONNECTED to reality...TUNED IN...participating, getting stuff done.
OFF, yeah, not so good! I mean, I'm having fun, doing the daily things that HAVE TO HAPPEN--Isaac things, doggy things, flossing. I started walking my neighbor's little girl to the bus stop in the mornings because her parents need to leave early for work, and I can do that, on-time and everything, because it HAS TO HAPPEN.
But, during OFF, I generally feel very 'out of it.' Spaced out. Happy, not sad, just somewhere else. Isaac and I play together, as do the doggies and I, but many things that are not immediately pressing get delayed. And, delayed.
I read a book recently called "The Gift of Adult ADD". The author's premise was that once you're in the system, so to speak, with a DSM IV diagnosis, you go from being a quirky, creative, off beat eccentric person with many charming qualities, to someone who's impaired and defective in your own opinion of yourself. You go from focusing on what you're good at, to just shoring up weaknesses, and then lose your moorings.
And, in a way, that's true! I very, very deliberately crafted the person I am now early in life--to be CREATIVE. To be a good artist and graphic designer. And, I was! Many of the qualities I struggle with now were essential and valuable to success in those fields. Specifically, the ability to zone out of reality to come up with new and original visual ideas. And then, to work for hours at a time on one project that had a start, middle and end.
However, the rigor of bills, cleaning, and keeping a home do not work well with my natural BATCH processing mode and desire to zone out and do just one thing for a large block of time. The skills I need now are about consistency, attentiveness and small amounts of attention on many things day after day after day.
It's TOUGH making the transition! I don't know if it's possible!
So--anyway, that's where I've been. In the daily minutae of everyday life. Thinking only about the next moment or the next few hours. I have not even given thought to the blog at all!! Like it may as well have not ever existed.
That all said, many, many things have happened in the last month!!
Isaac is now WALKING! He started on August 16th, 5 days after his FIRST birthday! (I have photos and videos to post--very soon!) He says stuff like "Ut ohh" if he drops something and "Ahhhh" after drinking a delicious beverage. Just like daddy. (Check out the video at the end of this blog) It's hilarious. Today he ate an entire chicken nugget by carefully removing small pieces and I was impressed.
He wears little running shoes. (Also hilarious) and he calls every dog Daisy (our lab's name). He says mama and dada, and very very emphatically he says NI NI which, I assume means "MORE NOW!" because he is very animated when he says it.
In the last week or so, he has become very possessive of me and HIS things. I once picked up my friend's little boy because he had fallen and was crying. Isaac immediately started to cry, so I picked him up too and had both. Isaac started pushing Julian away and it was obvious he was like "this is MY mother! Get your own!"
Ditto with crackers at the playgroup. I'll offer him some, and he's completely uninterested. Then, when the other children take some, he begins to get very upset and tries to take them from me. Like, in case he wants them for later? Dunno. It's funny and I know I need to begin teaching about sharing very soon!
I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much positive stuff to say, about so many dear lovely people I'm fortunate to have in my life...and I want to dedicate entire blog posts to each of them (my Dr. G would say that's my ADD making simple things complicated...). And I could certainly gush and gush at length about them...
Really, really fast, for now though:
Cousins Doug and Debbie were SOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome to let us stay at their beautiful house in Pittsburgh during my mom's memorial service. They were so gracious and welcoming. They let our doggies run around on their property and we all had such a nice visit. They took great care of Isaac when Dave and I had special meetings with the pastor. They just go out of their way to do anything and everything they can to help me. I am so thankful. They ROCK.
My DH Dave...I realize, aside from just making jokes about our list of requisite argument topics, and how we each have our own very unique skill set, I say very little about my DH. Part of that is Dave is super private and gets embarrassed easily, and hates when I write about him on the blog. Part is that I think all the time about posting and then my attention is focused 1-inch in front of my face in the daily minutae of my life. So--anyway DAVE. There's a reason I wore a sticker of Michaelangelo's statue of David when I first met him. After almost 10 years, I still think he's the greatest! We just have so much fun together and laugh all the time. I'm so grateful to have my one and only husband.
AND my deep sadness about leaving Seattle and my former running mate Helena (miss you, love you!) is mitigated a SMIDGE now because God saw fit to answer my prayers for a new chiquita banana, Virginia-based running pal: Brittany! Brittany is like Christmas, the winning the lottery, and manna from Heaven all in one. SHE HELPS ME CLEAN THE GARAGE. And, she helps me with my backlog of MAIL and administrative to-dos. I have never seen anyone be more decisive or work faster. It's amazing. I'm so thankful.
So--I could go on and on, about each one of you, my dear readers!! I will spare you all for tonight, and promise, again to post pictures and videos very soon. Some of many future post topics:
Seriously, when did I get really old?! No, a Polaroid is not an OLD camera. I just, just bought that.
And, yes, there are BEARS at our swimming pool. Complete with photos to prove it.
